The room was warm, lamplit, the golden glow casting long shadows across the velvet furnishings and carved wooden walls. Xandria stood close to Maltherion, her fingers laced tightly in front of her, a silent tremor in her hands. She could feel the pull of the king's grand Gias in her chest - a warmth and weight that grew heavier each time she drew near him. But tonight, it was not his nearness that made her pulse quicken.
It was the truth they had come to uncover.
Her father, Lord Gerald, rose stiffly as they entered, his long robes brushing the tiles floors. Her mother, Lady Janet, sat by the hearth, a knitting needle paused in the air.
"Your Majesty," her father said with a bow, then nodded respectfully to Xandria. "We weren't expecting a visit at this hour."
" We wouldn't intrude if it weren't necessary," Maltherion said, voice calm but commanding. "There are questions that can no longer wait."
Gerald's expression flickered - barely - but Maltherion noticed.
Xandria felt the king's hand brush hers briefly before he stepped forward. "It's about Elara."
A long silence followed.
Lady Janet set her knitting aside. "Elara? She is well, isn't she?"
"She's safe," Maltherion said. "For now. But certain... dreams, memories - foggy ones - have come to light. And they do not align with what Xandria believes to be true.
Xandria's voice was softer, but steady. "I was told that I lived with Elara all my life. I thought I did. But there was a time... when she vanished. You said she was sick."
Her father looked towards the fire. " She was ill."
"For nearly a year?" Maltherion asked, his voice sharpening. "That's not a fever. That's not a seasonal illness. Where did you take her?"
Lady Janet's hands clasped together on her lap. " There was no choice."
"You didn't answer the question."
Gerald's gaze met the king's at last. "We took her to a place beyond the southern woods. To a healer."
" What healer?" Xandria asked. " Why wouldn't you take her to the village physician?"
" Because he couldn't help her." Janet said. " Elara's sickness wasn't natural."
Maltherion's voice lowered to a dangerous calm. "What do you mean?"
"There were strange things she began to say." Janet whispered. " Strange dreams. Screaming in the night. Marks on her skin like burns - but there was no fire."
" She spoke in tongues." Gerald said, voice hollow. " Words no one understood. We feared she had been cursed."
Xandria's throat tightened. " By whom?"
"We didn't know," her mother replied. "But we remembered the stories. The old tales from before the crown outlawed them. Witches."
Maltherion stepped forward. The room seemed to still around him.
"So you took her to one, didn't you? " he said, voice now iron. " You took your daughter to a witch."
Gerald didn't deny it.
" She called herself Zendriya." He said. "She lived hidden. Far from the kingdoms. She promised to cleanse Elara. Teach her how to control the fire."
Xandria's breath caught. " Fire?"
Lady Janet was trembling now. "There were nights Elara would weep, saying her skin burned from within. Her sheets would smolder. We...we were desperate. "
"And this witch," Maltherion said coldly. " Did she help?"
"For a time," Gerald admitted. "Elara returned stronger....but different."
Maltherion nodded slowly, "Did she speak of this woman after she came back? Zendriya?"
" No," Janet whispered. " Never. But there was a change. She smiled, but it was hollow. She obeyed, but there was calculations in her eyes. Ans she began to ask questions. About the king. About the prophesy."
Xandria stepped forward, her voice almost a whisper. " What prophesy?"
Lady Janet looked up at her daughter, pain in her eyes. "The one the witch told her. About fire returning to the throne. About the one who would burn it down."
The silence that followed felt suffocating.
Xandria's mind reeled. Elara had been taken to a witch. To Zendriya to be precised. Have she been cursed?....or chosen?
Maltherion's voice was quiet, but full of purpose. "You should have told us this the moment Elara stepped foot into this palace."
" We feared what it would mean." Gerald said. " To admit we had consulted with the forbidden."
Maltherion turned his gaze to the fire, thinking. " She didn't just survive whatever darkness she encountered, she embraced it."
Xandria spoke, her voice raw. "What does that mean for us?"
Maltherion looked at her, "it means Elara didn't come to the palace out of love for her sister. She came with a purpose. One rooted in power and prophesy and betrayal."
Lady Janet sobbed quietly in her hands.
Xandria stood frozen, her childhood unraveling before her.
"Why couldn't I remember what happened during that year?" Xandria turned to her parents.
Gerald and Janet both looked at each other with fear and guilt written in their eyes.
"I advise you to answer the question before things get ugly" Maltherion warned, his eyes burning with fire. He has already guessed it, but he needed to be sure.
"There was one night. You woke up because of Elara's screams. You walked into her bedroom and you saw her in pain and her sheets were burning. We don't know what happened, but when we heard you scream in agony, we rushed in and we saw you lying on the floor, your eyes glowed with fire and your hands held fire from only God knows where. Elara no longer burned. It seemed like you took the pain away and you bore it by yourself. But it was only for a moment. Soon the both of you began to writhe in pain. We began to panic." Lady Janet sobbed loudly, trying so hard to control her tears.
"It wasn't just Elara you took to Zendriya, is it?" Maltherion's voice was cold.
"On our first visit to Zendriya, we took Xandria along. Zendriya said it wasn't anything to worry about. She performed some rituals on Xandria and she became normal again. That was why we were assured she would do the same for Elara. But we don't know what went wrong." Gerald said, wiping the tears off Janet's face.
Xandria stared at her parents in shock.
This is more than what she had ever imagined. What they were dealing with is so much bigger than she had ever thought.
Everything was thoughtfully crafted, ensuring that there was no loopholes.
The truth had finally cracked through the veil- and the shadow it revealed was far darker than she had ever imagined.
She thought the truth will give her the satisfaction she wanted,but it only left her with a lingering feeling.